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Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ?

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On 8/14/2012 5:45 AM, Eric Sosman wrote:
> On 8/14/2012 8:23 AM, Timothy Madden wrote:
>> Hello
>>
>> Is it just me or people tend to enumerate all the needed classes for a
>> Java source file each in its own import line ?
>>
>> Why is it better to use:
>>     import java.io.IOException
>>     import java.io.FileNotFoundException
>>     import java.io.FileOutputStream
>>     import ...
>> instead of just:
>>     import java.io.*
>> ?
>>
>> Which, by the way, also needs no maintenance in case a new class or
>> exception is needed in the file at a later time.
>
>      On the other hand, it *will* need maintenance if the next
> Java release adds a java.io.Wotsit class, and your file already
> has its own Wotsit.  Import them one by one and the new Wotsit
> won't clash with yours; import them en masse and it will.
>
>      The rest of the answer, I think, is that Somebody Somewhere
> decided that it was "better style" to import individually than
> by wildcard, and SS' opinion got codified into the out-of-the-box
> settings for tools like Eclipse and NetBeans.  Bowing to SS' ideas,
> these tools complain about wildcard imports, while at the same time
> making it easy to generate the individual imports.  Most people
> don't tinker much with the out-of-the-box settings, so the code they
> create with these IDE's follow that style.
>

I don't think the out-of-box settings in e.g. Eclipse should drive
actual programming style. A programmer who prefers wildcard imports
should use them, and tell the IDE not to warn on it.

I would perhaps be too lazy to do single class imports without IDE support.

Personally, I prefer specific class imports because that way the imports
give a quick overview of the external features the class uses.

Patricia

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Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Timothy Madden <terminatorul@gmail.com> - 2012-08-14 15:23 +0300
  Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-14 08:45 -0400
    Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-14 06:16 -0700
      Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-14 10:52 -0400
  Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Jeff Higgins <jeff@invalid.invalid> - 2012-08-14 09:05 -0400
  Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-14 16:31 -0700
    Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Timothy Madden <terminatorul@gmail.com> - 2012-08-16 16:39 +0300
      Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-08-16 11:51 -0400
        Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Timothy Madden <terminatorul@gmail.com> - 2012-08-17 15:08 +0300
          Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-17 11:26 -0700
            Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-17 12:53 -0700
              Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-17 12:58 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-17 13:27 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Timothy Madden <terminatorul@gmail.com> - 2012-08-20 19:09 +0300
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-20 09:40 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Timothy Madden <terminatorul@gmail.com> - 2012-08-21 15:03 +0300
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-21 09:05 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-21 09:48 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-21 11:51 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2012-08-17 14:39 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-08-17 15:39 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-17 15:57 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-08-18 11:03 -0700
                Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-08-19 18:07 -0700
  Re: Why so many imports instead of java.io.* ? Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-08-14 17:46 -0700

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